Creating Flexible Workplaces
What is a Flexible Workplace?
A flexible workplace offers people choices about the hours, days and/or place that they work.
Flexible work options are as endless as our imagination, but some common ones include:
Flexi-hours
Working daily or weekly hours in a flexible way. May include core hours.
Part-time
Working less than full-time hours
Compressed hours
Working agreed weekly hours in fewer days e.g. 9-day fortnight
Job share
Splitting a full-time role between two people
Remote working
Working from outside the workplace some or all of the time
Flexi-leave
Buying additional annual leave to be used to reduce working hours or days
term-time working
Four-Day Week
Shorten the working week for the whole workforce with no reduction in pay, in exchange for higher productivity
Why Do Flexible Workplaces Matter?
When flexible workplaces are humming it is a win-win. Productivity and wellbeing increase simultaneously. The employer has a more productive workplace supported by a highly engaged workforce that is less stressed and able to be at their best at work and at home. It’s a virtuous cycle!
Some great case studies that demonstrate the benefits of flexible work include:
CTrip working from home experiment run by Stanford University
Four-Day Week at Perpetual Guardian by Andrew Barnes
Women in Leadership at Zurich
How Mature is your Flexible Workplace?
Are you frozen and rigid about where and when work is done? Are you a flexpert, leading the way? Or are you somewhere in-between?
If you haven’t got your flexible workplace, or team, humming just yet, don’t worry, you’re not alone! It’s not always easy and most of us have seen it fall over.
A culture of entitlement can undermine the productivity benefits.
Conversely, ‘flexibility gratitude’ can create implicit pressure for some people to be ‘always on’, leading to burnout.
Ultimately, either of these scenarios leads to a breakdown in trust, which is the biggest threat to any working relationship.
A win-win is where the trust builds and the benefits flow.
If you need help to get there, you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s How I Can Help You
Whether you are an executive leader, people manager or HR professional, I can help you be bolder and bring those benefits to life.
I offer expert support that gives you the value you need to deliver a flexible workplace with a measurable, positive impact.
Executive Leaders
Strategy Workshop
Is your approach to flexible work detached from your overall strategy?
I work with your executive team to connect the drivers of flexible work with the organisation’s purpose and strategy, nested within the workforce strategy.
People Leaders
Managing Flexible Teams Workshop
Do you see inconsistency in the mindset and practice of people leaders when it comes to flexible work?
Using this popular, tried and tested toolkit your people leaders will have the confidence and resources to get more creative with flexible work in a way that delivers the benefits to both the organisation and your workforce.
Get in touch to arrange an in-house workshop or webinar for your oranigsation.
HR Professionals
Do you need some expertise to help you realise what you know is possible for your organisation?
Check out the suite of services on offer to help you get there faster.
Workforce
Flexible Work Win-Win Workshop
Do you need to support your workforce to think about flexible work in a way that considers the organisation’s needs alongside their own?
This popular toolkit mirrors the manager version and gives everyone a chance to explore what it takes to get a mutually beneficial result from flexible work arrangements.
Flexible Work Network Speaking Events
Are you ready to create networks within your workforce to open up more creativity and broaden the benefits of flexible work?
As a guest speaker I can support your network events, such as launching a working parents network, job-share network or carers network.
I share my story as the founder of My Kids Village, designed to help working parents find quality childcare, combined with my drive to build flexible workplaces.